Geruabari (Biswanath Chariali), July 1 - Turning the dream of enjoying electricity by every member of 263 households in four habitations here a reality, the Assam Power Distribution Corporation Limited (APDCL) has successfully completed electrification in the area under the Din Dayal rural electrification programme.
The electrified areas include Majuli Suba, Singa Basti, Solmari and Borgaon in Geruabari village, some 3 kms away on the north of Biswanath Chariali town.
During a recent survey by a group of mediapersons from Tezpur accompanied by the Manager of Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), Guwahati, Chabi Sharma and some other Tezpur-based APDCL officials, including Amrit Kumar Das, Sunil Pegu and Pradip Barman, it was known that though some households in the area were electrified under the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme during the Congress regime, many needy and economically poor families of the area failed to enjoy the facility following certain shortcomings.
However, under the Din Dayal Rural Electrification Programme, the remaining unelectrified (UE) households were covered now. Tezpur SDO Amrit Kumar Das informed that apart from these 263 households, the other targeted UE households of the greater area will also be covered under the Saubhagya Scheme.
Aiming for a developed rural India, the Union Government recently announced crossing the last milestone towards universal electricity access and lighting up all inhabited villages through 100% rural electrification programme.
Chabi Sharma mentioned that while the mission of electrifying all the villages has been accomplished, the real challenge now is to feed power to each household in those villages, a huge task being undertaken through the Saubhagya Scheme, wherein free electricity connections are provided to below poverty line (BPL) households, thereby improving education, fuel, economic activity and creation of more job opportunities across villages.
�The Assam Government early this year had launched the Saubhagya programme with an aim to provide power connection to every household within this year. With support from REC and State DISCOMS, villages are receiving reliable power at affordable rates, thus ensuring that every household is lit up,� he said, adding that �this landmark achievement was announced on April 28 last by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.�
�Adding to the success of this achievement was the fact that it was achieved well ahead of schedule. While the mission of electrifying all the villages has been accomplished, the real challenge now is to provide sustainable power to each household, which is being undertaken through the Saubhagya Scheme or Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojna.
In Assam, the Saubhagya programme commenced with an aim to provide electricity to every household within this year. Having achieved the target in some villages like Kartik Sapori and Missamora in Jorhat district, amongst others, the programme is progressing in the right direction.
Among the electrified villages of the State, five including Geruabari (CC-286640) Dak Sapori (CC- 287268) in Sonitpur, Mazdolopa (CC-294253) in Golaghat, Missamora (CC-293340) and Kartik Sapori (CC- 293382) in Jorhat were selected for survey as to how much the beneficiaries are satisfied with the programme.
�So far, there is satisfactory feedback from the beneficiaries of the respective villages,� the mediapersons were told.
